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drewkittyFrequently Asked Questions about Itty Bitty Bigger World:
1) What is this "peace has broken out" and "Last War" nonsense? War has always been with us.
"IBBW" is an exploration of what the Singularity would look like in practical terms. Think of the political consciousness of humanity getting a really effective software patch. Much as feudalism is better than anarchy, and a republic better than feudalism, the denizens of "IBBW" have found that a Protocol-driven society is better than Western democracy.
2) What about ... Islam and the Arabs?
It is not an accident that the "Last War" was on the Kurdistani-Iranian border. Islam is alive and well. So are the Arab powers. However, their expansion has become cultural and peaceful rather than aggressive. Religious freedom for adherents is as sacred as freedom _from_ religion for non-adherents.
3) What happened to the Islamic fundamentalists?
Protocol. Or chunky salsa, if they pissed off their next door neighbors enough.
4) What is "chunky salsa?"
Modern (i.e. IBBW) weapons systems do not leave pretty corpses.
5) What happened to Russia?
In the 2020s there were border tensions with China and the Chinese kicked their collective asses, multiple puns intended. This would have fed the natural Russian tendency towards paranoia, except that the Chinese refused to invade.
6) .... Israel?
Israel's borders now run from south Lebanon across (and including) the Golan Heights. The Sinai Peninsula is a demilitarized zone, and under Protocol such zones _stay_ demilitarized. (Smuggled hardware tends to suddenly explode once it enters the DMZ, is printed on a printer in the DMZ, etc.)
However, under the Cairo Protocol, Israel had no choice but to either lawfully expel (by due process of law for individual crimes committed) or grant full citizenship to all persons within its borders. A number of Palestinians did get expelled, but Israel had no choice but to grant full Israeli citizenship to the remainder. The land and other property expropriated during the 1947 War is now run by a trust that makes payments to Israelis of Palestinian descent and expats - the other alternative, returning the lands to the heirs, was rejected by a plebiscite vote.
7) ... Mexican-American border? Illegal immigration?
The only important borders in North America are the enclave borders. San San is such an enclave - but so is Ciuidad Federal de Mexico ("Mexico City") and between the two, Mexico City is more exclusive than San San. A gringo is much more likely to be perp-walked out of Ciuidad than a Mexican from San San...
Immigration in "IBBW" has to do with residency rather than mere presence. Migrant workers who stay less than six months in any particular enclave are perfectly free to do so, a de facto legalization of a process that has gone on for centuries. Establishing residency when one is not a San San national is rather harder, but not impossible.
The one remaining piece of what was once called "government" is Immigration & Customs Enforcement, a shared function funded by numerous enclaves, which tracks persons in North America and focuses on illegal trafficking in persons and goods. The former is much more serious as a criminal matter, as it interferes in the Cairo Protocol right of exile. Promises of residency in exchange for work are strictly regulated but fraud does happen. "IBBW" is not a perfect world, but a peaceful one.
8) ... weapons of mass destruction?
Like nudity, WoMD are less interesting when everyone has one. The more powerful the device or apparatus, the more that various protocols (and Protocols) apply. "IBBW" is a world where school children buy orbital laser time for class projects, fissile material storage is a question for local zoning authorities, "the fire department has nukes but the military does not," and last but not least, you are as free as you wish to swing your fist about so long as you do not touch your neighbor's face. And your neighbor is watching.
9) ... privacy?
Privacy is a major source of conflict in "IBBW." The ordinary person jealously guards what little privacy they have (typically in their own cubic). The wealthy want privacy but can't have it. The powerful are forbidden to enjoy privacy and this is The Price You Pay For Power. The more powerful a person or organization is, the more detailed their listing on boards such as Threat Trackers.
That said, "official" invasions of privacy, such as police and emergency response, are automatically suspect.
10) ... Canada?
Eh? Canada was always a concept in search of a nation, and when America collapsed into enclaves, Canada did the same -- but was much more civilized about it. The 'hot spot' in Canada is the development of the Canadian North... ecological preserve or ecologically sensitive "living room" is as close as Canadians get to having politics -- except maybe hockey, which is much bloodier now that nanotech medicine is available ringside.
1) What is this "peace has broken out" and "Last War" nonsense? War has always been with us.
"IBBW" is an exploration of what the Singularity would look like in practical terms. Think of the political consciousness of humanity getting a really effective software patch. Much as feudalism is better than anarchy, and a republic better than feudalism, the denizens of "IBBW" have found that a Protocol-driven society is better than Western democracy.
2) What about ... Islam and the Arabs?
It is not an accident that the "Last War" was on the Kurdistani-Iranian border. Islam is alive and well. So are the Arab powers. However, their expansion has become cultural and peaceful rather than aggressive. Religious freedom for adherents is as sacred as freedom _from_ religion for non-adherents.
3) What happened to the Islamic fundamentalists?
Protocol. Or chunky salsa, if they pissed off their next door neighbors enough.
4) What is "chunky salsa?"
Modern (i.e. IBBW) weapons systems do not leave pretty corpses.
5) What happened to Russia?
In the 2020s there were border tensions with China and the Chinese kicked their collective asses, multiple puns intended. This would have fed the natural Russian tendency towards paranoia, except that the Chinese refused to invade.
6) .... Israel?
Israel's borders now run from south Lebanon across (and including) the Golan Heights. The Sinai Peninsula is a demilitarized zone, and under Protocol such zones _stay_ demilitarized. (Smuggled hardware tends to suddenly explode once it enters the DMZ, is printed on a printer in the DMZ, etc.)
However, under the Cairo Protocol, Israel had no choice but to either lawfully expel (by due process of law for individual crimes committed) or grant full citizenship to all persons within its borders. A number of Palestinians did get expelled, but Israel had no choice but to grant full Israeli citizenship to the remainder. The land and other property expropriated during the 1947 War is now run by a trust that makes payments to Israelis of Palestinian descent and expats - the other alternative, returning the lands to the heirs, was rejected by a plebiscite vote.
7) ... Mexican-American border? Illegal immigration?
The only important borders in North America are the enclave borders. San San is such an enclave - but so is Ciuidad Federal de Mexico ("Mexico City") and between the two, Mexico City is more exclusive than San San. A gringo is much more likely to be perp-walked out of Ciuidad than a Mexican from San San...
Immigration in "IBBW" has to do with residency rather than mere presence. Migrant workers who stay less than six months in any particular enclave are perfectly free to do so, a de facto legalization of a process that has gone on for centuries. Establishing residency when one is not a San San national is rather harder, but not impossible.
The one remaining piece of what was once called "government" is Immigration & Customs Enforcement, a shared function funded by numerous enclaves, which tracks persons in North America and focuses on illegal trafficking in persons and goods. The former is much more serious as a criminal matter, as it interferes in the Cairo Protocol right of exile. Promises of residency in exchange for work are strictly regulated but fraud does happen. "IBBW" is not a perfect world, but a peaceful one.
8) ... weapons of mass destruction?
Like nudity, WoMD are less interesting when everyone has one. The more powerful the device or apparatus, the more that various protocols (and Protocols) apply. "IBBW" is a world where school children buy orbital laser time for class projects, fissile material storage is a question for local zoning authorities, "the fire department has nukes but the military does not," and last but not least, you are as free as you wish to swing your fist about so long as you do not touch your neighbor's face. And your neighbor is watching.
9) ... privacy?
Privacy is a major source of conflict in "IBBW." The ordinary person jealously guards what little privacy they have (typically in their own cubic). The wealthy want privacy but can't have it. The powerful are forbidden to enjoy privacy and this is The Price You Pay For Power. The more powerful a person or organization is, the more detailed their listing on boards such as Threat Trackers.
That said, "official" invasions of privacy, such as police and emergency response, are automatically suspect.
10) ... Canada?
Eh? Canada was always a concept in search of a nation, and when America collapsed into enclaves, Canada did the same -- but was much more civilized about it. The 'hot spot' in Canada is the development of the Canadian North... ecological preserve or ecologically sensitive "living room" is as close as Canadians get to having politics -- except maybe hockey, which is much bloodier now that nanotech medicine is available ringside.
